Я, Робот

           "Whathappenedtohim?"

           "Vrasayanawasinchargeofabrine-evaporationplantfortheproductionofiodine,withwhichyeastcandowithout,buthumanbeingsnot.Hisplantwasforcedintoreceivership."

           "Really?Andthroughwhatagency?"

           "Competition,believeitornot.Ingeneral,oneofthechiefestfunctionsoftheMachine’sanalysesistoindicatethemostefficientdistributionofourproducingunits.Itisobviouslyfaultytohaveareasinsufficientlyserviced,sothatthetransportationcostsaccountfortoogreatapercentageoftheoverhead.Similarly,itisfaultytohaveanareatoowellserviced,sothatfactoriesmustberunatloweredcapacities,orelsecompeteharmfullywithoneanother.InthecaseofVrasayana,anotherplantwasestablishedinthesamecity,andwithamoreefficientextractingsystem."

           "TheMachinepermittedit?"

           "Oh,certainly.Thatisnotsurprising.Thenewsystemisbecomingwidespread.ThesurpriseisthattheMachinefailedtowarnVrasayanatorenovateorcombine.-Still,nomatter.Vrasayanaacceptedajobasengineerinthenewplant,andifhisresponsibilityandpayarenowless,heisnotactuallysuffering.Theworkersfoundemploymenteasily;theoldplanthasbeenconvertedto–somethingorother.Somethinguseful.WeleftitalltotheMachine."

           "Andotherwiseyouhavenocomplaints."

           "None!"

           TheTropicRegion:

           a-Area:22,000,000squaremiles

           b-Population:500,000,000

           c-Capital:CapitalCity

           ThemapinLincolnNgoma’sofficewasfarfromthemodelofneatprecisionoftheoneinChing’sShanghaidominion.